Friday Photos: Visitor Exvotos

Made with inexpensive materials like tin or sheet metal, exvotos are devotional paintings offered in gratitude by everyday people. Individuals who experienced everyday miracles–being cured of an illness or saved from an accident–expressed their gratitude by creating an exvoto composed of both a visual and written description of their experience.

Since we first launched this activity in December 2015, hundreds of visitors have made exvotos expressing gratitude for their family members, their smartphones, their pets, their city, their schools–the list could go on and on! Take a look at a few of the recurring themes that we’ve found in some of our visitors’ exvotos:

Food

“Thankful for tasty fruit!”

“I am thankful for food and water.”

Nature

“I am grateful for nature. “

“I am thankful for mother nature.”

“I am greatful for the sun.”

“I am grateful for the sun, water, & the sunbeams’ reflections.”

“I’m so thankful for the beauty & greatness of life and its many features!”

Art

“I am thankful for the art museum.”

“I am greatful for religious art. The detail of the work is always so intrinsic and always leaves a profound energy with me.”

“I am grateful that ART came into my life and I enjoy it every single day of my life. “

Personal Relationships

“I am thankful for my FAMILY.”

“thank you for my Mom and Dad God. “

“Grateful for allowing to love anyone regardless of what, who, & how they are.”

Obstacles

“I am grateful for adversity. ‘Someone I love once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.'”

“I am grateful for our trip to the mountains where my son could recover from his Lefort III surgery.”

“I am thankful for the disease I was given at birth, cystic fibrosis, because through the years I’ve learned to live each day like it’s my last because it really could be. My mindset has given me the courage to do the impossible”

What are you grateful for? Create your own exvoto the next time you drop by the Center for Creative Connections, and share your creation on Twitter or Instagram using #DMAexvoto.